What is SSL? SSL is short for Secure Sockets Layer. An SSL certificate encrypts data a user inputs into your website so that it can securely travel from their browser to your web server.
Although an SSL certificate does not actually make your website itself more secure, it does secure the information that travels between your website’s users and your website (you)!
Credit cards are a notable type of sensitive data. But even names and email addresses now count too! Does your website ask people to sign up for a newsletter or join a membership?? If so, you are collecting personal data and should have an SSL attached to your website.
Google states that ALL data submitted on your website should now be secured with an SSL.
You can see if your website has an SSL certificate by looking at your website address (URL) does it start with HTTP or HTTPS? If it’s loaded in your browser with HTTPS at the start, then you have SSL, yay!
If it doesn’t then you should contact your Hosting Provider (SSL Certificates are sometimes offered free but are usually around £60 per year – at the time of writing).
So why should you move your website from HTTP to HTTPS?
- Well for a start it’s the right thing in order to protect your user’s data (all the more important in light of GDPR).
- It can give your slightly faster loading times on your website, which is a win for attracting Google and other browsers (SEO).
- And with that in mind it will also help you get seen on Google more. Google is now giving a little more weight to secure sites (SSL). SEO Expert Brian Dean’s research of analyzing 1 million search results proved that first-page results on Google are now strongly correlated with HTTPS.
- SSL Certificates Earn Your Users’ Trust When a user sees an SSL certificate, they can have confidence that their data is secure when it makes its way to your web server.
- An SSL certificate adds credibility and confidence to your website. As of July 2018, Google Chrome has been marking a website as “Not Secure” if it is not protected with an SSL certificate.
- It’s all a part of making the internet more secure for everyone.
If you host with me I include SSL with the price of the package. All websites hosted with me are secured with SSL (amongst other things).
Claire x
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